ADRIAN — Three murder defendants testified Thursday that electronic stun devices strapped to their legs denied them a fair trial in Lenawee County Circuit Court.

“I thought it would actually kill me if it ever went off,” said Paul Edward Daniel during an evidentiary hearing. “It was hard for me to keep up with my attorney when he was cross-examining witnesses.”

“The whole time during the trial I was afraid they were going to electrocute me,” said his twin brother, Peter Lamont Daniel. “There were things I wanted to ask my attorney that I didn’t because I was afraid I was going to be electrocuted.”

The 46-year-old brothers and a third Macomb County man, Leonard Dee McGlown, 46, were all found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy and firearms charges after their joint trial in October 2011.

The three were accused of firing a volley of shots from a van on Feb. 9, 2002, that killed 20-year-old Marcus Newsom of Adrian. The car Newsom was driving was stopped on Park Street at College Avenue in Adrian when he was reportedly mistaken for another man involved in a feud with the Daniel family.

An evidentiary hearing on the use of electronic restraints at the trial was ordered in November by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Judge Margaret M.S. Noe conducted the hearing Thursday, taking testimony from the Daniel brothers, McGlown and four officers involved in the security measures.

McGlown’s defense attorney at the trial, James Daly of Adrian, vouched for the use of the devices that allowed officers to shock a defendant by remote control if he became violent.

Daly said said he felt the Daniel brothers and family members in the courtroom wanted to intimidate him and McGlown at the trial.

“I think that device made Leonard safer during the trial,” Daly said.

He testified he saw no indication his client nor the Daniel brothers were inhibited from talking with their attorneys and participating in the trial.

McGlown’s appellate attorney, Michael Skinner of Lake Orion, asked Daly why he did not object to his client having to wear the device if he felt McGlown was not a threat.

“First of all, I didn’t see anything wrong with my client wearing the device, and second, I knew I would never convince the court that two of the defendants should wear it if my client shouldn’t,” Daly said.

Lt. James Craig of the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department testified all three defendants were given a waiver form explaining how the device works and under what circumstances it could be used to shock them.

Page 2 of 2 - “It’s the exact same waiver used by the U.S. Marshals,” Craig said.

Policy called for using an electric shock only as a last resort, he said. Officers who had remote controls on belt holsters at the trial were instructed to first stand and signal that a recess was needed if a problem developed. They could also order the defendants to stop a threatening behavior.

Craig said the device first emits a warning tone when the switch is held down for a second. The officer has to continue to hold the switch another second to trigger an eight-second, 50,000-volt shock.

The only medical warning included in training for the device, he said, was about possible injury from falling.

After testimony was concluded, Noe set dates for attorneys to submit written briefs on the issues and motions for a new trial. Oral arguments were scheduled for 9 a.m. on April 30.